News

DAVE MUSTAINE OFFERS BAND-BY-BAND RUNDOWN OF GIGANTOUR 2013 LINEUP

Megadeth‘s Dave Mustaine has put together an impressive bill for this year’s Gigantour. The trek features Black Label Society, Device, Hellyeah, Newsted, Death Division, and, of course, Megadeth.

We recently spoke with Mustaine about Gigantour 2013, and the thrash legend gave us a band-by-band rundown, as well as a little background on how the lineup came together.

“The Device idea was a no brainer and I think Gigantour was initially germinated around the idea of doing Device and having Hellyeah — and then Jason [Newsted] came into the picture, which was totally unexpected,” explains Mustaine. “I can’t wait to see his group and play with him again – who knows what we’re going to do together? I’m going to talk with him about it and see how he feels about playing a song from the past.”

Since our interview with Mustaine, both he and Newsted have stated that they’d be collaborating on an old-school Metallica track onstage, even asking fans to suggest which song they should play.

As for Death Division, Mustaine didn’t have to look too far for inspiration. “My son is managing Death Division and the guitar player is great. I think they’ve got good stuff in store for them.”

When it came to Black Label Society, Mustaine admits he initially had another act in mind for that slot but was thrilled when Zakk Wylde & Co. came aboard for the trek. “I love Zakk — he was one of my favorite guitar players when he first came on the scene I was like, ‘Who is this kid?’ so we’ve got a fun relationship. He called me up the other day and he’s like, ‘Father Dave, I’m watching Kim Kardashian and I’m going to get ready to do a Richard Simmons workout,’ and I’m like, ‘This guy’s insane,’ and we’ve been having a bunch of phone calls and we’ve been talking about Gigantour and what we’re going to do out there.”

Mustaine also is excited about a new aspect to the tour they’re adding this year. “There is going to be a page on the Gigantour website called ‘The Woodshed’ where all of us guitar players and bass players are going to be uploading jam things we’re going to be doing backstage, giving guitar lessons and stuff,” reveals the Megadeth frontman. “I talked to Zakk and I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we were able to upload you giving me a lesson, giving you a lesson and us just shredding together and all the great bass players on this tour too with Ellefson and Newsted and other guys on this tour and each band is just monstrous … It’s going to be a really cool interactive place.”

Gigantour 2013 kicks off July 3 in Gilford, N.H., and runs through an Aug. 11 stop in Toronto, Canada. A two-night stand at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom was just added for Aug. 6 and 7. See the full itinerary here, and check out more from our interview with Mustaine by clicking below. You can also enter our contest to win a Dave Mustaine VMNTX Dean Guitar!